The speaker confirmation form invites new speakers to sign up for practicing their talks via a video conference ahead of DevConf.CZ and invites experienced speakers to coach new speakers through such practice. We hope that participating in this program will improve the experience of new speakers and improve the quality of talks at DevConf.CZ, and highly encourage experienced speakers to sign up as coaches. We have a
speaker guide and a
speaker coaching guide available to support speakers and coaches. People who sign up, will receive their coaching matches by December 20, with the expectation that they will schedule practice sessions between January 6 and January 17.
We ask the coaches to take the lead on scheduling the practice session via a video conference (BlueJeans, Talky.io, Jitsi Meet, Zoom, Google Hangouts, Skype, etc). The speaker can choose to invite other audience members to the practice. If the speaker and the coach happen to be in the same location, they can do the practice session in person. In the practice session, the speaker delivers their practice talk, and the coach and other audience members provide feedback on the talk and slide deck. Additionally, we ask that coaches arrange to meet their speaker at DevConf.CZ and attend their talk as a supportive audience member.
Speakers and coaches agree to abide by the
DevConf Code of Conduct both at the conference and in any pre-conference coaching, practice, or other program related activities.
This option is a good fit for speakers who do not work at Red Hat or are not based in Brno. As in prior years, group practice sessions will be held in the Brno office for people who work at Red Hat, and information about them will be shared separately on the Brno mailing list. However, Red Hatters from Brno are welcome to select this option too.